Economy may be down, but so is crime

San Diego 
Crime in San Diego continued to fall during the the first three months of the year, Mayor Jerry Sanders announced Friday.

Overall crime dropped by 16.6 percent during the first quarter when compared with the same period last year, Sanders said during a news conference in front of police headquarters. Violent crime, property crime and gang-related crime also saw a decrease.

Rape, which increased by 8.7 percent, continued to be the only major crime still on the rise. The number of rapes reported grew to 75 during the first quarter when compared with 69 during the same period last year.

Authorities have said that many of the rapes being reported are date rape situations, or rape by intoxication. An educational campaign aimed at teenagers was launched last month in an effort to prevent those crimes.

Domestic violence has also risen by 2 percent, a trend that some police officials predicted as the economy worsened and put increased stress on families.

Police Chief William Lansdowne attributed much of the drop in crime to the community's continued cooperation with police and the department's practice of focusing efforts on emerging crimes.

Lansdowne meets with his command staff at 6 a.m. each day for a briefing and the group determines where the resources are needed each day, he said. Technology helps identify crime patterns, which authorities use to anticipate upcoming issues.

“We're bucking the trend across the nation,” Lansdowne said, referring to the uptick in crime that many cities have experienced due to the downturned economy.

Officer response times to emergency situations also continued to improve, the chief said, even as the number of calls increased.